Verizon Gambles on PayPal Boss Dan Schulman to Spark Growth Beyond 5G
Verizon Taps PayPal Veteran to Turn Network Strength Into Growth
NEW YORK — Verizon has hit the reset button at the very top. On Monday, the telecom giant replaced CEO Hans Vestberg with Dan Schulman, the former PayPal chief who transformed that company into a global payments powerhouse. Schulman now faces the challenge of converting Verizon’s technological edge into the kind of subscriber growth Wall Street has been waiting for.
The timing couldn’t be sharper. Verizon boasts what analysts widely call the strongest 5G network in the U.S., yet the company lost nearly 289,000 postpaid phone customers in the first quarter. That’s the paradox Schulman inherits: a premium network that risks becoming an expensive commodity pipe unless paired with compelling customer strategies.
Vestberg, who spent six years building Verizon’s network muscle, will stay on as a special advisor until October 2026 to oversee integration of Frontier Communications—a $20 billion fiber deal slated to close in early 2026. Meanwhile, Mark Bertolini steps in as board chairman. The company reiterated its 2025 outlook, projecting free cash flow between $19.5 billion and $20.5 billion.
From Builder to Architect
This leadership swap reflects a bigger shift in strategy. Vestberg’s legacy lies in spectrum buys and aggressive 5G rollout. But while Verizon added 293,000 broadband customers in the second quarter—most from fixed wireless—its core wireless business is under siege. T-Mobile’s price wars and a saturated market have turned subscriber gains into a zero-sum game.
Bertolini framed Schulman’s appointment as a deliberate pivot. “Dan is a seasoned and decisive leader with a proven record of transformative growth,” he said, emphasizing Schulman’s knack for turning customers into revenue.
The market, however, wasn’t immediately convinced. Verizon shares slipped $1.38 to $42.29 after the news, despite climbing as high as $44.52 earlier in the day. Investors seemed torn—excited about a fresh direction, but wary of execution risk in a capital-hungry industry where Schulman has limited operating experience.
A Payments Vision in a Telecom World
Schulman’s résumé doesn’t read like a traditional telecom executive’s. At PayPal, he steered revenue from $8 billion to $30 billion, boosted earnings fivefold, and added hundreds of millions of users. Before that, he held senior roles at AT&T, American Express, Priceline, and Virgin Mobile.
He’s hardly an outsider at Verizon either. Schulman has served on the board since 2018 and became lead independent director last year, giving him a front-row view of the company’s struggles and opportunities. His elevation signals the board’s belief that Verizon’s future lies not in pouring more billions into towers and fiber, but in finding smarter ways to squeeze value from what it already has—whether through better bundles, stickier customer experiences, or digital add-ons.
Schulman set the tone quickly. “We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory,” he said, promising sharper cost discipline, smarter capital use, and stronger growth across every market segment.
The Frontier Deal Looms Large
No challenge looms larger than Verizon’s pending acquisition of Frontier Communications’ fiber assets. Valued near $20 billion, the deal aims to expand Verizon’s fixed broadband footprint and promises $500 million in annual cost savings within three years. Federal regulators have signed off, but several state approvals—California’s in particular—are still pending.
Why fiber? Because wireless alone can’t carry the growth load forever. Fixed wireless has been a useful bridge, but fiber-to-the-home offers better economics in dense areas and opens the door to sticky “triple play” bundles of wireless, broadband, and streaming content. That combination reduces customer churn and lifts average revenue per user.
But integration won’t be easy. Aligning systems, merging field operations, and keeping millions of customers happy while chasing efficiency gains could stretch even a seasoned operator. Schulman will be judged quickly on how well he balances execution with ambition.
Beyond Towers and Cables
This leadership shake-up also reflects how the entire telecom industry is evolving. Network maps once decided the game. Now, what matters is how companies package their services, treat their customers, and build loyalty. Schulman’s digital platform experience fits squarely into that shift.
Analysts expect him to simplify Verizon’s offers, moving away from confusing promotions toward clearer pricing that bundles extras customers actually value. Artificial intelligence tools could help predict churn, while loyalty credits or flexible payment features might keep subscribers from jumping ship.
Given Schulman’s payments background, he may even push into adjacent opportunities: turning Verizon billing into a digital wallet, adding identity services tied to devices, or using payment data to reduce fraud risk. These moves may not create huge new revenue streams, but in a mature market, retaining customers can be more valuable than chasing new ones.
What Investors Should Watch
For investors, this transition sets up a classic bull-versus-bear split. Optimists see Schulman smoothly absorbing Frontier, unlocking cost savings, and tightening churn control, which could lift free cash flow above $22 billion by 2026 and push shares toward the mid-$50s.
Pessimists worry about regulatory delays, integration hiccups, or a renewed price war that drains margins. Under that scenario, free cash flow might sink toward $17 billion, dragging shares back to the high $30s.
Still, Verizon’s dividend—recently raised for the nineteenth year to $0.69 per quarter—remains secure, backed by a 58 percent payout ratio. That steady income keeps the stock attractive for yield-focused investors, even if growth proves elusive.
The company’s ability to manage debt while funding both network upgrades and the Frontier integration will determine whether it has room to consider share buybacks down the road. Until the deal closes, however, big repurchase plans look unlikely.
The Big Question
Verizon has already built the pipes. The question now is whether Schulman can turn those pipes into something more than a commodity—whether he can use digital savvy and customer-first strategies to unlock growth where his predecessor could not.
The first clues will show up in quarterly results: postpaid churn rates, wireless service revenue beyond the current 2–3 percent growth range, broadband net adds holding above 250,000 per quarter, and early signs of Frontier synergy. California regulators, still weighing approval, could also set the near-term direction for the stock.
For now, Verizon remains a cash-generating giant with solid credit and an attractive dividend. What Schulman must prove is whether a leader known for revolutionizing digital payments can also reinvent the playbook for American telecom.
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